Posted on 07/11/2003 7:32:58 AM PDT by End Times Sentinel
Sam Katz unveiled a sober proposal to crack down on "pinstripe patronage" yesterday - but a few words at the end of his press conference ignited the kind of rhetorical warfare not usually seen until just before an election.
Mayor Street's campaign is "out of control," Katz said, responding to questions about tactics. "They're engaged in character assassination. I'd urge the campaign to get out of the gutter."
For good measure, Katz said it was not surprising that Street's campaign press secretary had come under fire for attack letters his wife wrote to the Philadelphia Daily News - while obscuring her identity - because the mayor had "so many ethical problems."
A livid Street retorted at his own news conference later:
"If Sam Katz wants to lecture someone on ethics, he should deliver it to the mirror when he's shaving in the morning."
The mayor mentioned a lawsuit by a disgruntled former business partner accusing Katz of fraud.
The lively exchange across dueling news conferences came after weeks of scandals that had seemed to reinforce Republican nominee Katz's main campaign theme that Street is running a government of, by and for insiders. Among the incidents: revelations that city officials fixed millions of dollars' worth of parking tickets for the well-connected, and the flap over the mayor's brother, Milton, getting a $1.2 million no-bid airport contract, which the mayor canceled the same day it was reported.
All but lost amid the political back-and-forth yesterday were the proposed reforms Katz rolled out, including a ban on no-bid city contracts for professional services. Most city contracts for legal, real estate, engineering, financial, and other specialized work are awarded without the traditional open bidding process that governs, say, the acquisition of pencils.
Because well-connected professionals who make campaign contributions often end up with such contracts, critics say this creates a "pay to play" system.
"This system stinks," Katz said at a news conference across Market Street from the Liberty Bell. "It soils the city's image and reputation, it breeds cynicism, and it drives quality away."
Katz said he would subject professional contracts to "competition" but added that the details of how that policy would work - such as the dollar amount of contracts involved - would have to be worked out by a task force once he takes office.
'Corrupt and contented'
Quoting Lincoln Steffens - the muckraking journalist who called Philadelphia "corrupt and contented" - Katz said city politics remains that way 100 years later.
He said he would work to pass an anti-nepotism bill in City Council, something all of the nation's 10 largest cities - save for Philadelphia and Detroit - have.
He also wants to revamp the Board of Ethics, simplify the ethics code, and make training in its provisions mandatory.
Katz, saying that a tolerance of cronyism and corruption for many years had "robbed taxpayers," said he wanted to make information about who has won city contracts more accessible on the Internet.
Street said that Katz did not understand city procurement, adding that "in most of the professional service contracts we award, there is competition... . We don't have the flexibility to just pick people out of the air."
The mayor also said that most of the time, the firms that lose out in getting contracts are also campaign contributors.
The only way to "get at the so-called pay-for-play problem," the mayor said, "is to pass a state law with campaign-finance limits."
A challenge from Street
He challenged Katz to draw one up within the next 30 days and push it in Harrisburg.
"I'd be on it," Street said. "Then I'd take him seriously."
Also, Street pointedly criticized Frank Keel, the press secretary whose wife, Theresa, used her maiden name and a false Philadelphia address to pen letters to the editor attacking Katz for allegedly corrupt business deals. "Of course it's an embarrassment - he shouldn't be having his wife write letters using a false name... . It's a ridiculous proposition."
He said the matter is "probably not over. I'm very troubled by it," but he declined to say whether he would fire Keel, as Katz had earlier demanded.
"Certainly the campaign knew about it," Katz said, adding that Theresa Keel either "plagiarized or got an awful lot of help writing them," since the letters, he said, sounded remarkably like Street campaign releases.
The general election is in November.
Another day in the Katz Street Campaign...
The good news is that in the last two polls, Katz has a 44% to 40% margin over Street. That won't be enough to counteract the rampant fraud, intimidation and treachery of the democraps, but the Republican Operatives haven't mobilized yet either. It also appears that the ultra liberal Philadelphia Inquirer is going to be Pro Katz and the ultra-illiterate Daily News is still sitting on the fence.
I never thought it would happen, but it looks like Philadelphia has a chance to redeem itself with a Republican Mayor.
The John Street Collection:
Suspiciously high voter turn out in 1999 suggests fraud..
Airport director Alfred Testa fired and replaced with Street flunky Charles Isdell
Welcome America Director Susan Segal fired to hand out a job to Street crony Kyle Lewis.
Mayor's Brother lands sweetheart $1.2 Million Airport Contract in minority hiring scheme.
Scandal surrounding parking ticket fixing scam.
Police commander in charge of investigating police conduct caught living in the suburbs
Owl_Eagle
”Guns Before Butter.”
Philadelphia Election ping...
Owl_Eagle
”Guns Before Butter.”
2 posted on 3/6/02 7:30 AM Pacific by grammymoon:
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These sneaky letters to the editor should be enough to sink Street.
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